Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich canceled his visit to Kibbutz Be’eri on Monday following strong opposition by relatives of the 32 Gaza hostages from the kibbutz, who protested the minister's comment over his role in bringing back the hostages.
The families and relatives protested against Smotrich on Sunday.
The trip to Be'eri was part of a wider visit to the new neighborhoods being constructed in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the Gaza border communities devastated by Hamas during the October 7 massacre.
“This morning in the new neighborhood in Nir Oz, I met the new pioneers of the people of Israel,” Smotrich wrote on X/Twitter about the visit. “This is what victory looks like.”
The trip is planned to end with a ceremony to break ground for a new neighborhood in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, which is expected to proceed as scheduled.
Some sources claim that the visit to Be'eri was actually canceled due to time constraints, and not because of Smotrich's comments.
Smotrich claims responsibility for bringing back the hostages
During an interview for Nadav Perry's podcast on Sunday, Smotrich claimed a critical role in how the war played out.
“I think that without me, the war in Gaza would have ended even before Rafah,” Smotrich said to Perry. "Had I not drawn a red line at that moment and told Netanyahu, ‘there is no such thing,’ we would still be negotiating with Hamas over one more hostage and then another.”
Former Gaza hostage Or Levy slammed Smotrich for his comments in a post to Instagram, saying that if it had been left to him, “we wouldn't have returned to this day.”
“For you, we are nothing more than collateral damage of your trolling,” Levy said. “I said it, and I will shout it: Bezalel Smotrich, you are a shame of a minister, a shame of a citizen and a shame of a person."
Ziv Aboud, the girlfriend of former Gaza hostage Eliya Cohen, responded to Levy's post and wrote: "Simply delusional, please don't say that.